Food plant worker was told to delete 'failure logs' before an inspection. When contamination surfaced, HR made him the scapegoat

Many people believe that workplace loyalty is a two-way street. When you follow your supervisor's instructions, you assume they will also support you if things go wrong. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. One employee (u/EchoAlternative2433) at a mid-sized food-processing plant in Ohio realized this lesson the hard way. After following their supervisor's instructions to clear certain files before a state inspection, they found themselves in a very difficult situation. On June 19, the person took to Reddit to seek advice on how to deal with the company trying to make them a scapegoat for something they did not do. The post has received over 2,000 upvotes online. 

Just a 'problematic' cleanup

For more than four years, the employee maintained digital records for the department, including temperature logs and maintenance reports. Everything was going smoothly until one day in April, when their supervisor asked them to "clean up" a folder of equipment failure logs before a state inspection. Although the supervisor framed it as a usual activity, the employee knew that something was off. Despite that, they followed his instructions because they didn't want to lose their job. The entries in question were a specific cooling unit that had been failing for some time and wasn't being properly fixed.

The blame game

Nonetheless, even though the employee cleaned the records, when the inspection happened, "they found contamination tied to that exact unit," they revealed. This perhaps led to a formal review within the company. Amid this, the HR pulled in the author and started asking them very specific questions about who deleted the files and why. Obviously, the employee became tense because they landed in trouble for following their supervisor's orders. Meanwhile, the one who had asked them to delete the file was acting as if he were not involved in the incident. Their supervisor and HR's reaction made the employee believe they would be blamed for something they did not do. Moreover, the employee had no evidence to prove that they only followed the rule and did nothing more. "I'm honestly terrified I'm about to be the scapegoat for a decision that came from above me," the employee wrote.

Widespread workplace fear

As it turns out, this person isn't alone. In fact, according to a study (of more than 1,000 Americans) commissioned by Outten & Golden, about 21% of employees across the country have felt pressure to act unethically by their employers. At the same time, almost 1 in 5 people have either personally seen such unethical or illegal activities or at least heard of them. However, many (33%), like the employee in the Reddit story, avoid reporting them because of consequences such as job loss.

'Delete the post'

While the employee sought advice online, most people suggested they should immediately remove their post. For instance, u/MaybeTryToBeOriginal wrote, "Get a lawyer and delete the post, you’re making things worse. I’d probably delete the account at this point." At the same time, u/linecrabbing suggested, "Word of the wise: delete this. You are in Conspiracy territory, and if someone died from food poisoning tracing back to this unit, lawyer time. You may get scot-free if being fired is the end of it."

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